Best Friend's Brother
by Max7
Summary: I never believed love had much value until it swept me off my feet, until I realized love surrounded me. She was in love. I was in love. Neither of our love stories were common, and they weren't the same, but they had one thing in common: if forever was really what we had, then we were gonna spend forever loving one another. BellaxJake EdwardxOC rated M for possible lemons
1. 00: Our friendship didn't really have--

**Wow. First _Twilight _fan fiction I've done in a while. (: I hope you guys like it. It's not typical, at least I hope not! I've never read anything quite like it.**

**Constructive criticism is welcomed. Flaming is not. Take your flames elsewhere, or don't take them anywhere. It's my story to make how I want, which is the beauty of writing. Don't tell me to stop writing. I'll write as often as I would like.**

**Sorry. Bad experience with flamers. x3**

**Anyways, here's the new series of mine, Best Friend's Brother! I wish I could give you a rough estimate on how many chapters it will be, how many installments it will have, but I can't. Honestly, it's all up in the air for now. (:**

**Please review. Reviews are encouraging and helpful, and I love to read them. (: I hope you enjoy this story, and I promise I'll update as long as people are still reading. I'll update as often as possible. That is all I can promise. I can't promise every day, every week, and though it shames me to say, I can't even promise every month. I can, however, promise to do the absolute best I can and update whenever I can. Sometimes, I'll be stuck story wise, and it may take longer, but I promise to keep trying and keep thinking of how to go on without making it simply boring.**

**Also, to explain below a bit, I'm gonna put a few lines of lyrics from a song that I think overview the chapter nicely. I'm also putting a quote from various people. So, that'll explain what all of that is. (:**

**Now, enough babbling. Read, review, and enjoy, please. (:**

**00. Our friendship didn't really have a great beginning.**

* * *

"I got the eye of the tiger, a fighter, dancing through the fire  
Cause I am a champion and you're gonna hear me ROAR"—_Roar_, Katy Perry

"The harsh reality is that we live in a cruel world where more often than not, darkness can be found not only surrounding our everyday lives, but also can be felt within ourselves."—Unknown

* * *

I didn't want to go there. Mom and I just didn't get along, and honestly, I don't think she liked me very much. When placed beside Bella, I was no shining star. The only ways I would even consider myself responsible were my uncanny ability to make a barely average meal and my knack for washing whites with reds.

Really, I was nothing, but Charlie and I were happy. We meshed well together.

Maybe that's why I left the safety of Charlie's home. Maybe that's why I was where I found myself. Either way, things weren't good, and I hated it.

If it wasn't one thing, it was another.

As he finished raping me, shaking his dick in front of my face to make sure I nearly threw up due to the disgusting smell of sperm he had plagued me with for days now, one of his friends and coworkers unchained me and drug my weak and frail body behind him. None of the men here had any compassion. Every single one of them took turns raping me. They made me walk around naked.

While I was still conscious, without numbing me, they cut out my uterus so I wouldn't get pregnant.

It was the most horrible nightmare, and it didn't seem to be coming to an end.

As I was saying, his coworker came and grabbed me by my matted and sticky hair—clumped together with mixtures of blood, semen, and various chemicals they poured on me. He was dragging me to the experiment room, and while I cried out in pain, he began unfurling my large wings, black and brown like a hawk, to begin studying them.

They were so sore, so fragile. It was just two days ago they altered my DNA to grow me some wings, and now they were making me open them up to study them. Who knew when they would try to make me actually use them?

It was hard to focus on much due to the drugs they had in my system mixed with all the intense amounts of pain I was suffering through. All of my conscious thought was focusing on trying to understand how someone could be so cruel, so vicious, to a human being. I mean, didn't it occur to them that I had feelings? Did _they _feelings, or even a soul?

That had to be it. They were demons. After all, they _were _vampires. How many times had they fed off of me, leaving me barely alive? Too many to count, and I was sick of it.

_Stop fighting. Stop holding on. Charlie still has Bella. He'll be okay._

Despite the fact it was my own mind that came up with this thought, it made no sense to me. How could I say that? How could I let go? There was so much to live for if I ever got out of this mess.

Before I had time to use the new fast reflexes they gave me, one of his assistants put a cloth over my face. It had no smell, but I knew this very well.

Who knows where I would wake . . . .

* * *

Something hurt worse than a pain I had ever imagined. I was cold, wet, and for some reason, underwater. It felt like I had needles poking out of various places inside of me—like, for example, my _skull_!

I opened my eyes to find myself underwater, like I had guessed, but I was breathing perfectly fine. Though a painful struggle, I looked around me to see men looking down at me in wonder, and I couldn't help but freak out when I heard one faintly say, "Hope this doesn't kill the poor girl."

This could kill me?! No! Charlie needed me!

And then, I heard a weird noise as someone flipped on a switch, and a fierce pain, infinitely worse than the pain I was already feeling, overtook me. Something was going through these needles and into my body, changing my entire frame and structure. I tried to scream, but I couldn't get anything out.

My bones seemed to be unhinging and breaking one by one, including my spine. Every single ounce of me wanted to just die because in a flash, they were forcing pain worse than I had ever imagined through every part of my body.

When it broke my spine, everything went black, but I was conscious.

Whatever they were putting inside of me not only broke me apart from the inside out, but it caused my heart to begin racing in my chest, faster than it ever had before. It was the hardest thing in the world to do, but somehow, even as everything inside of me shattered and ripped apart, I found something to cling to.

Fading away into a deep, dark oblivion, sinking faster towards the light as time went by, this is where I found myself. Not knowing when it would end, hoping with all I still had left in me that it would end with me still breathing, was the worst form of torture they could ensue.

How would Charlie react? How _was _he reacting? I mean, they took me over a week ago. He couldn't be taking this very well.

It's a strange fate. As I laid there, face-to-face with death, I felt like a little girl again, so happy and carefree, back when crying seemed like the only answer. They were killing a little girl, destroying her innocence in the most vile ways. How could they? So loving, compassionate, carefree—these sick, twisted demons.

My heart stopped then, and I knew at that moment, in that instant, I was dead. I was choking on nothing; motionless, heavy, and unable to move. My eyes were closed—or open—but I couldn't see. I couldn't move a single part of my body, not even my pinkie.

_Death has drawn near. It's here for me._

In that moment, as I laid there thinking I was dead, something sparked inside of me, and it was follow by an agonizing, smoldering pain that ripped out inside of me.

It was as if someone just set off every explosive and every flamethrower—in all of the _entire _world—inside of me.

What was happening to me?!

The fire rapidly spread up my arm, as if my blood was pure gasoline there to help it burn ever so quickly, so hot, so painfully.

I couldn't do anything but lie there in agony as whatever the vehement fire was continued to spread throughout my body.

The worst part about all of this was the fact that I wasn't just burning in one spot, but I was boiling everywhere inside of my body. Muscles and joints that I didn't even know existed inside of me were burning like the fiery pits of hell inside of me, and I didn't doubt them anymore.

My surroundings were fading around me, and my senses were shutting down, one by one. Hearing was the first thing I lost, followed by smell. They came quickly, but the rest—touch, the sense I wanted gone the absolute most—wouldn't leave. It clung to me like there was no other way.

It was absolutely excruciating.

When the water I was in got colder than ice, I had hoped for a blessing. I had hoped that the internal blaze would cool down with the ice water I was lying in, soaking me from head to toe. But, I was sadly mistaken. It got nothing but worse; much, much worse.

My teeth ground together, clenched tighter than they ever had been, along with my fist. It was all I could do not to shriek as loudly as I could possibly manage, like I wanted to do. The fire was burning me on the inside, completely. I didn't know what was happening. To be honest, I was kind of scared to know.

My body was shuddering deep, long shudders, uncontrollable ones. That was when I broke, when I decided that maybe it was time to let go, to stop trying to force myself alive. I sat there, shuddering, praying to God, asking—begging, more accurately put—Him to hurry up and take me home.

It was an agonizing pain that just seemed to get worse and worse as it spread through to the last part of my body. My dead heart was now beating faster than ever before, like it might explode any time now.

I just wanted to die, in that very moment. Everything I had lived for, worked for . . . I didn't care anymore. Any pain I had ever felt—believe me, there was a lot accumulated over my clumsy sixteen years—seemed like nothing under the severity and harshness of this choking, agonizing fire.

The eternal fire fumed on, especially in my core, my heart. Nothing would stop it; nothing could help. All I wanted to do was rip those sick men _enjoying _this to pieces for doing this to me, but I wasn't even sure if I would see them . . . if I ever even stopped burning.

What was going on? Why was this happening? Was this some kind of poison they were injecting into my entire body? Why was it causing so much destruction inside of me?

Suddenly, just when I thought the pain was dying away, it got worse; much stronger. It was as if before, I didn't know what I was experiencing, and now, I suddenly was able to understand and appreciate every little flame that was touching every little piece of my body, and I wanted out again.

But I couldn't do this to myself.

After what seemed like another eternity, I got every sense back—touch, smell, sound, taste, and probably sight too. But, I wasn't opening my eyes yet to see.

I heard the men mumbling about their disappointment—how I hadn't survived. They talked about how they needed to get a stronger person, probably a male.

Oh _hell _no!

That caused my heart to thud in my chest, something their machines picked up on. My heart had been beating, but it didn't register? It made no sense, but I didn't particularly care right now.

They were saying I wasn't strong enough? Saying only a male could handle this? Call me a psycho feminist, but that just wasn't going to fly.

More changes happened, though, changes that distracted me from the rest of their conversation. At this point, I was surprised to find that in my limbs, the flames were extremely leisurely fading. But, that just sparked the fire in my heart, where everything was the worst, to burn even hotter, even stronger.

How is that even possible? Was the end near?

Then, there was no pain in my hands or feet anymore. But, it was as if the pain had left them and went to my heart, because it was suddenly beating more rapidly, and the fire was burning even stronger and hotter.

How much hotter can this get?!

Now, all I could hear was my frantic heart, and more and more of my limbs was gaining the cool, extinguished fire feeling. They were free, and as time slowly passed by, the cool areas were up to the creases of my elbows and the creases of my knees.

Out of nowhere, my heart jolted, and as the pain drained from everywhere else on my body, it burned brilliantly in the most excruciating heat yet, hotter than I knew anything could withstand. This was unreal, and for a moment, I pondered on whether or not it was hotter than the hottest star.

After that moment, my heart seemed to rise, but steel restraints and needles held me down. Then, there was nothing left inside of me still combustible except for my raging heart, the heart that was fighting the fire. Both were losing, it seemed, because the fire was killing my heart, but once my heart was gone, what else was there for it to burn?

I was slipping away in this moment, so close to the end of this, but there was nothing to hold onto. This was just too much for my tiny, weak body to bear. I was dying, and I couldn't stop it.

_No! Charlie needs me._ _I will _not _die today!_

My body fought, struggling to cling to the small piece of life I had left in me. It was so tiny, I wasn't sure how I managed, but repeating the name of the only person I had helped me hold onto the almost invisible piece.

A surge of unbearable pain rang through my heart, and it pounded three times—two loud and clear, and then one final, quiet beat before it stopped.

My bones seemed to hinge themselves together again, my entire body numb.

Shock . . . I couldn't feel anything else.

It was over.

I was dead now.

But, how was I still thinking?

To test my curiosity, I wiggled my toes inside of my most likely ruined black and white converse.

Great.

But, my toes moved . . . so . . . I wasn't dead . . . .

I wasn't breathing . . . .

My heart wasn't beating . . . .

What in the _hell _is going on with me?!

Am I dead?

How can I be dead and still thinking? Still able to move?

And then, I peeked through my eyelids to find the men all staring at me in wonder, confusion, and hope. But, I just peeked and then closed them back.

Just peeking through my eyelids, I was surprised at the quality of my sight, especially since I was _underwater_. I mean, everything was so clear! It was as if I had contacts in all of my life, foggy, messed up contacts, and they had been removed.

The picture quality was sharp, incredible.

This was awesome!

I could feel the strength building up inside of myself, but I knew why the men were cheering. Their little test had worked, whatever it was they had done to me.

And now, I was mad—_furious_.

I was ready for revenge.

Unfortunately, I didn't really get to get it for myself. When I started to try and move, I was reminded that there were needles shoved through various parts of my body. And then there was, you know, Rosalie Hale cutting heads off fiercely while her sister, Alice Cullen, shot some of the men with a badass looking crossbow.

In just a matter of seconds, I was out of the tub with a blanket around me. Every part of me was beyond aching, and the moment I was out, I just fell into Rosalie's arms.

It was all black from there.


	2. 01: My life is changing for--?

**There's not much to say for this other than I hope you enjoy reading what exactly I meant by "story like no other." Hopefully, that remains true. (: Please read and review. It would mean the world to me. (:**

**01. My life is changing . . . for better or worse?**

* * *

"Things are changing  
It seems strange and I need to figure this out."—_Say Goodbye_, Skillet

"Ohana means family, and family means nobody gets left behind, or forgotten."—Lilo, _Lilo and Stitch_

* * *

That was almost two years ago. Rose and I had become like sisters, more so than my actual sister and I, and my life changed in ways I never imagined.

Of course, Rose and Alice came up with a cover story as to why all evidence was burned. They were crack junkies trying to get high when I fought my way out. Those two heard me calling out for help, and they came to help. The building was on fire, and my problems were solved.

Dr. Carlisle Cullen, their dad and resident vampire hunter, was the doctor to examine me. He was amazed at what all they had done to me, though he just put down on paper the humanly things they did. Their attempts to make me into a vampire had failed, which only meant one thing for me.

I was a hunter.

You see, let me start from the beginning. My name? Cleo Swan, new vampire hunter slash human-hawk hybrid. Pretty badass? You bet. My parents, Charlie Swan and Renée Dwyer, were teenagers when they got married. Young and in love. Bad thing? Not if you're sure you've got the person you want to spend the rest of your life with. In their case, it was definitely a bad thing.

I was the love child that led to their marriage. Bella was an accident that occurred during their marriage. Shortly after Bella was born was when it all fell apart, and Renée and Bella moved far away to Phoenix, Arizona while Charlie and I stayed in the oh so rainy yet oh so perfect Forks, Washington.

During my younger years, I traveled to Phoenix during the holidays with Bella and Renée, and during the summers, Bella would come to Forks to hang out with Charlie and me. When I was thirteen and she was twelve, we decided it was our decision to make, and since we didn't really get along or enjoy being in the other place, we stopped going.

The summer between my sophomore and junior year, I had decided to go for a week or so when Renée called and told me she was engaged. Phil, from what I gathered through awkward phone calls from Bella or hasty, half-hearted emails, was that he was a nice guy. He took care of Renée and her crazy, scatterbrained self. The two were really in love, and I was happy for her.

So, I decided to go see her. It was a decision I made, yet I hated it. I hated that I made it, but once my flight was booked, there was no turning back, like I had decided in my mind that I wanted to do. Therefore, my brilliant self decided to get lost in the woods the night before I was supposed to get on an early flight to Phoenix.

You know what happened there—lots of agony and torture, rape, mutation, and things of that nature all ended by the badassery of Rose and Alice. Well, after a few weeks of Charlie declaring that I wasn't ever allowed to leave the house again unless I was going to the Cullen's house, I decided to go to Phoenix the last week of summer. Charlie didn't like this, and Rose made me promise to not run away the night before. Well, I didn't, and the trip to Phoenix was rather uneventful. All that really happened was I met Phil, Renée swarmed me and hugged me practically the entire time, and Bella remained her quiet, shy, and distant self.

Maybe I should cut her some slack. Living with Renée all of her life is probably what did that to her. She didn't get much chance to talk, so she really didn't know how to say much or be a social person. Living with Charlie, I learned. It wasn't that hard to do. Sure, people thought I was crazy and strange, and most people at school typically kept their distance.

Strangely enough, when I was kidnapped and came back to school junior year, people wanted to be my friend and hear my story. Isn't that funny?

Nah, the real funny part of that bit was that Rose practically told them to kiss her ass and kept most people away, the ones that weren't genuine.

The point is, after I got out of there and got some time to cope with the things that happened, I began learning about the more complicated details of what happened. Those vampires had heard about hunters, and they wanted to create the ultimate weapon against a hunter. So, instead of just turning me into a vampire, they mutated me and made me into a superhuman with adamantium bones and adamantium surrounding everything internal that was vital. Then they injected the venom, which is what caused the intense burning, but unlike anything Carlisle had ever seen, I rejected it, or my body did anyways. Instead of letting it turn me into a vampire, my body rejected it and only took what it wanted.

It made me into a hunter of sorts, though my hunter process wasn't exactly complete. Sometimes, my heart will start beating again, and I'll be like a normal human for the most part. Carlisle told me he wanted to complete it one day, but first, he wanted to see what they had done.

Two years later, he still didn't quite know, but I was a mutant hunter thing. I was part hawk, mostly human, and a hunter, and unlike the other few I knew, I had more than one thing they called the "hunter ability." As a matter of fact, I had three distinct "hunter abilities," as Emmett called them.

I was able to read minds, differently than Edward or this Aro person I heard mentioned in passing. Instead of just always hearing voices or having to touch someone's hand, I was able to look at a person and hear what they were thinking. Of course, I had to look them in the eyes, but it was better than constantly having voices in my head.

Then, I was electrokinetic, which meant I was able to control, generate, or absorb electricity. They knew a vampire who drank animal blood named Kate that actually could shock someone pretty powerfully, but mine was, once again, different from hers. I could generate it from nowhere, and the coolest thing I had discovered yet was my ability to create a ball of electricity in my hands like a sticky grenade and stick it to someone or something.

Pretty neat, but very draining.

Of course, I can't forget my phasing ability. Basically, in the simplest explanation, I could walk through walls. Then there's always my ability to, you know, use my hawk wings and fly.

I was scary powerful, but while still a strange hunter mutant thing, I wasn't able to use them like the other Cullens were. They were a hunter, all the time, and while I was a hunter, I could use them pretty powerfully. Like other hunters, I still had to sleep because I got tired, but I was able to use the abilities. While in my heartbeat phase, I couldn't really use them that well. Sometimes I could catch a few seconds of someone's thoughts or generate enough power to charge my phone, things of that nature, but I wasn't able to use the abilities to their full extent.

Well, I was a hunter. I learned about hunters, how few there actually were—literally, I was the only one outside of the Cullens, the second one made from a vampire, and the only one made from a vampire that immediately changed to a hunter. It made Carlisle wonder if maybe there were more like me, or more out there, but he didn't really look much into it.

He was too fascinated with finding more about the weird hunter type person here.

Learning about hunters took up most of my life. Rose, Alice, Emmett, Edward, Jasper, and me all became best friends. Rose was my closest girlfriend, and it was hard to decide who was my closest guy friend. Edward was the most attractive, by far, and Emmett was the funniest. Jasper, however, was the one I could talk to about the more serious stuff, like boys.

I couldn't talk to Edward about that for, well, various reasons.

Ha. He couldn't read my mind.

Senior year started, and it went through like normal. I had some of the best friends in the world, and though I was more of a freak than before, people liked me. They liked talking to me.

My world shifted, however, when I got the news that Bella was moving to Forks. Like I said, she wasn't really bad, per say, but I didn't really want her around, not to mention the tiny bedroom I had wasn't big enough for both of us.

Since I was eighteen as of October thirty first, Rose, Alice, Charlie, and I decided that the best thing for everyone—for Bella's sake, for my sake, and for his sanity—would be to get a place of our own. So, that's what we did. Of course, he knew Edward, Jasper, and Emmett would live there as well, but his words on the subject were, "Just make sure she doesn't hook up with Edward?"

Rose and Alice _loved _that, though it made me scowl. How many times had these people tried to hook me up with Edward? Too many times to count.

Anyways, so the day before she moved in, I was moving out. Since they immortal, they had acquired plenty of money. Charlie didn't really know the truth behind it all, but he knew that I wasn't allowed to pay for a bit of it. He protested, but there's no arguing with Alice.

None whatsoever.

Tomorrow, Bella's plane was landing, and I was going to meet Charlie at his house when they got back from the airport. Rose and Alice, knowing my mixed feelings for my little sister, were going to be there as well while those other three losers, the male ones, played video games on the new TV they got mostly for me.

They got hooked when they tried playing video games. Rose and Alice complained that they never spent time with them anymore, and it was kind of true. They were either at school or playing video games, most of the time.

One time, Rose actually got naked, and Emmett barely even noticed. He wouldn't have if she hadn't walked in front of the TV.

It was crazy, but that was the crazy I got to, luckily, call my life now. They were a part of it—my roommates, my best friends—and though things were changing, they were standing behind me the entire time. Even though I was a mutant weird hunter type person, they were hunters standing behind me helping me learn each and every day how to control myself better, how to appear normal.

It isn't exactly normal to walk around the house in a sports bra with hawk wings loosely folded out, but that doesn't count.

No one saw that except those who knew I was in no way what you would call normal.


	3. 02: We're a little too good at this

**Thank you, Sarge. :D I'm glad you feel this way. To the other person who favorited my story, thank you. (: Though more readers would be AWESOME, there is at least one person reading, so that makes it all worth it. (:**

**For my readers, I have a little . . . contest, I guess you could say. I REALLY suck at summaries, and a good summary could attract more readers. At least that's what I hope. :3 My point is, the person who PM's me the best summary (I understand if you need more time to get a better idea of what the story is about) gets a chapter of their choosing. (: I'll write whatever you would like. For example, a Bella/Jake chapter, a Cleo/Edward chapter, Rose/Emmett chapter, etc. Hell, I'd even try a Esme/Carlisle chapter . . . which could actually be a lot of fun.**

**Anyways, there ya go. A chapter of your choosing. It doesn't even have to be a romantic chapter. It could be an action chapter, goofy chapter, etc. Whatever you'd like, I'll do if you have the best review. It would be greatly appreciated. (:**

**WARNING: There are spoilers for _Fang _(A book in the Maximum Ride series).**

**Now, please continue to read, review, and enjoy. (:**

* * *

"Let me break the ice  
Allow me to get you right  
Let you warm up to me."—_Break the Ice_, Britney Spears

"A girl should always have a best guy friend to go to when she wants to know why the male species is so hard to understand."—Unknown

* * *

I laid across the couch with my feet up in the air, kicking slightly back and forth while my mind stayed focused on the book I was reading. Honestly, I don't know if I would've ever heard of the awesome series if it wasn't for what those vampires did to me.

Rose was sitting in Charlie's chair, watching some reality TV show out of boredom. Alice was flipping through a fashion magazine, continuously mumbling how we needed to go shopping soon.

_Fang _was coming to an end, and there were tears rolling down my face.

Fang can't leave! He's the best character, and he's so . . . no! He promised!

That asshole!

Rose noticed my tears and laughed a little. "Let me guess. He left?"

"He left!" I cried, shutting the finished book before flipping it off the couch and curling up into a ball. "He promised Max he would never leave her again, but just because stupid freaking Dylan comes along, he thinks it's okay to break that promise. It's not okay, Fang!"

"He can't hear you," Alice giggled, and she was immediately sitting beside me with raised eyebrows. "I know you're in love with him, but face it, sweetie. He's not real."

I stuck my tongue out at her. "I'm not in love with him. He's a character in a book. I just know that if I ever met someone who was just like him, I'd probably jump him."

Rose smirked at me. "Edward wouldn't like hearing that."

I snorted. "He promised to help me find him so he could laugh as I did it. You guys keep saying things like that, but I'm serious. We're just friends. No feelings otherwise. Do I find him very attractive? Of course I do, to an insane degree, but we're seriously just friends."

"Uh huh," Alice said, her eyebrows raised in suspicion. "You wouldn't be saying that out of denial or anything, right?"

"There's no denial," I insisted. "Come on. You're lucky we're even friends. Do you not remember freshman year? We hated each other."

"He hated you because he couldn't read your mind, and you hated him because he hated you," Rose scoffed. "Not exactly lucky. You both just got over yourselves and realized that hate was just sexual tension and teenage angst at its finest."

Right as I was about to respond, I heard Charlie's cruiser begin pulling into the driveway. I knew it was him because each vehicle I knew well had a distinct sound. Charlie's cruiser, Rose's BMW, Emmett's Jeep, Edward's Volvo . . . my Audi.

Curse them all. For my eighteenth birthday, they decided it'd be a good idea to get me a freaking _car_. Not just a normal car, no. A freaking _Audi R8_ convertible, completely blacked out. If I wasn't so excited about my dream car sitting in the driveway, I might've tried to kill Edward.

Why Edward? He was the only one who knew my dream car.

With a sigh, I stood from the couch and dashed over to the door, making sure to tuck my wings in tight before making them disappear. My heart wasn't beating at the moment, so I was a hunter for the time being. I intended to use that to my full advantage whenever I could.

Charlie was just about to open the door when I did, and he smiled at me. "Well hey, kiddo. I didn't think you'd already be here, though the car is kind of a giveaway."

I laughed and nodded. Standing ten feet behind him, carrying a single carry-on bag and a pillow, was Bella. She was different from the last time I saw her, though that was to be expected. It had been nearly two years, and she had finished growing. Now, she was seventeen, and honestly, I think she was more of an adult than most people my age.

Her hair was still soft and wavy, chocolate brown to match the eyes she and Charlie shared. My eyes were the same icy blue color as Charlie's mom's, so they didn't just come from nowhere. She was smaller than before, not that she was really fat to begin with, but her short frame didn't allow much body fat.

Her eyes were wide when she saw me, and I guess I knew why. My hair was bright red with yellow tips in the ombre style, and put in the ponytail like I had it, it looked like fire in a way. So, mixed with my icy eyes, it was quite the contradiction.

Maybe she wasn't looking at me that way, though. Maybe it was Rose and Alice and their unnatural beauty. I don't really know.

Rose's bright blue eyes were slightly uninterested when they met Bella's, as Rosalie typically went with someone she didn't know who she didn't think was that pretty. She never got that way with me, as far as I noticed, because there was never a time to be uninterested. It was all wild and crazy madness, and there was so much to talk about that led to knowing one another.

Alice, however, seemed thrilled to meet Bella, considering all the visions she had had where the two became the best of friends. I had known she was excited, but her smile was so bright I wondered if she accidentally swallowed a ray of sunshine.

"Bella, welcome to your new home," Charlie said happily. "These two are Cleo's roommates, Rosalie Hale and Alice Cullen. Figured they should be here since they're practically family as well."

Despite Bella's hesitance at the word "roommates," she gave them both a timid smile, though her eyes were wide and practically glued on her shoes. "Um . . . hi. I'll be right back. I should go and put my stuff down."

Charlie nodded. "Be right back, you three. Come on, Bells. Let's show you to the room."

Needless to say, it was an awkward day. Rose and Alice tried to make it not awkward, but Bella was genuinely just an awkward and shy person. It made since, considering that she lived with Renée and never really learned how to be otherwise, but it was just uncomfortable for everyone.

Even Bella knew it, though she didn't care. Every time I looked in her eyes, all I heard was how she wishes we weren't here—including me. All she wanted to do was get up to her room and sleep, so as soon as I could without Charlie thinking something was up, I made up an excuse for us to go.

Rose was relieved, whereas Alice was upset that we had to. The three of us climbed in Alice's cute little red Dodge Dart and made our way back to the three goofballs waiting at home.

It wasn't the first time we came in to them all in their underwear with headsets on and controllers in their hands, eyes glued to the TV, but it was the first time we came in to find Esme here to witness all of this.

She was in the kitchen cooking away, humming to herself to try and tune out their madness. She popped her head out while we all did various things to make ourselves at home, such as shrug out of our coats and put away our keys, and smiled warmly at us. "Hello, girls. Did you enjoy meeting and seeing Bella?"

I scrunched my nose. "It was awkward, really. Alice enjoyed herself."

Rose sighed. "I just . . . sorry, Cleez, but I can't really see your sister and I getting along all that well."

Edward's eyes never left the game of Modern Warfare on the screen, but he was smiling. "The important thing, Cleo, is that you were actually there."

"She would've preferred I wasn't," I disagreed.

"Oh, don't say that," Esme protested kindly, and I wasn't going to make her sad with the truth. So instead, I just smiled and let her hug me. "She was probably just tired from the flight over."

"You're probably right," I murmured.

To my surprise, Edward backed out of the game. The one they were in had ended, and instead of sticking around to play another one, he backed out and signed out of his profile. I was confused, but he began sliding into some pants and pulling on a fitted t-shirt. When he noticed me watching him, he smirked. "I know I'm just too sexy for you to resist. It's okay to admit that. I can tell that you want me."

I rolled my eyes. "You're so right. I want you to leave."

He laughed and pulled me into a surprisingly tight hug. "Should I have come with you? Would that have made it better?"

"Whoa now," Emmett's booming laughter sounded through, and I immediately began laughing in Edward's arms while he rolled his eyes. "Didn't know you two were getting some in the back room!"

Instead of getting mad about it, Edward just shrugged. "If I were confronted by a vicious man-eating bear with chainsaws for hands and daggers for fangs, then I sincerely hope you wouldn't be harmed because you're pretty."

I smirked up at him. "Looks to me like you already were."

Everyone nearly died because they were laughing so hard, but through narrowed eyes, he tried another one. "You'd look so good in my trunk."

I was giggling now while Esme stood near us gawking with her hands over her ears. "Roses are red, violets are blue. I have a gun. Get in the van."

Edward smirked. "If I had chloroform and a rag, you'd be waking up in a closet tomorrow."

"You're so handsome," I said, my eyes wide in adoration while his eyebrows rose. "You look just like my dead boyfriend. You can come back to my place, and the three of us can get to know each other better."

Rose nearly fell on top of Emmett, who was literally laying in the floor laughing so hard. Edward slapped me a high five before clearing his emotions and taking five seconds to think of another one.

"My penis just died," he said, snapping a little. "Can I bury it in your vagina?"

"You look . . . clean," I said as if it was a response to what he said.

He laughed. "You actually look alright with the lights on."

"You're like chocolate pudding," I informed him, and he frowned. "You look like crap."

His eyes narrowed again, but he was immediate with his response. I wish you were a car door, 'cause I'd slam you all night."

"Well I have a car," I suggested. "How about I run you over with it instead?"

"Speaking of cars," he murmured, and he began wiggling his eyebrows at me. "Walking to your car alone later?"

"Do you know karate?" I asked curiously. "'Cause I'd like to kick you in the face."

"You know how I know we're gonna have sex tonight?" he asked with a smirk. "I'm bigger than you."

"GET IN THE VAN!" I yelled, and he shook his head and smirked.

"I can see forever in your eyes," he said, voice tender, and something that shocked me was when he took my hands in his and began giving me a loving smile.

Explosion . . . that's the only thing I could think of that explained what happened to me. It was an explosion of reactions, such as a rapidly beating heart or a high voltage electric current surging through even the strangest parts of my body.

It was all I could do to act like that didn't set off some pretty wild reactions inside of me, but I managed and cleared my throat. "All I can see is never in yours."

He frowned. "I want to give myself to you."

"Sorry," I said, giving him a forced smile. "I don't accept cheap gifts."

Now, he was pouting. "I have a large penis."

"So do I," I shot back.

This made him laugh louder than even Emmett, who was gawking over at me while Rose rolled her eyes and announced her departure into her bedroom.

"I'm here to fulfill your every sexual fan—"

"STOP!" Esme exclaimed, something that caught our attention immediately.

Emmett and Jasper both laughed, despite their attention being otherwise taken by the game, and Alice just giggled a little and slipped out as well. Edward and I were smirking at each other because how many times had this happened? Edward, two. Cleo, five. This was a tie that made eight.

He put his arm around my shoulder. "Come on, Cleez. Esme needs something from the store, and she wants me to go get it."

I pushed his arm off with a smirk. "So go get it?"

He began pouting again, and my heart began to sink a little, despite the fact he was only teasing. "I don't like going by myself."

"You are such a baby," I complained on the way to the table to grab my keys. "Come on, loser. Let's go to the store."

He grinned and actually opened the door for me, gesturing for me to step out of the house and into the garage before him. "Ladies first."

"That's just a nice way of saying let me look at your ass on the way out," I snorted, but even still, I stepped out first. Despite the fact that we were just friends, I felt a little boost of confidence inside when he did, in fact, look at my ass and like what he saw.

Hey. It's not so wrong for two best friends to openly admit that they find the other to be one of the most sexy people they've ever come across.


	4. 03: It's the first day back, and my--

**Thank you for your review, Ski. Sarge tells me you're her sister? Quite an awesome sister you have. (: I'm glad you love this story so much! I hope you continue to enjoy.**

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**Keep reading and reviewing, and hopefully, enjoying. :D**

**03. It's the first day back, and my drama allowance is already running thing.**

* * *

"I'm in the business of misery,  
Let's take it from the top.  
She's got a body like an hourglass, it's ticking like a clock.  
It's a matter of time before we all run out,  
When I thought he was mine she caught him by the mouth."—_Misery Business_, Paramore

"The saddest thing about betrayal is that it doesn't come from your enemies. Only the ones who actually have the power to betray you."—Unknown

* * *

Monday, the cursed day I was dreading and looking forward to all at the same time. Rose, Emmett, Jasper, and I were starting the final semester of our senior year, and I, for one, was beyond excited about it. They weren't as much due to the fact that they had been through many senior years and would go through many more in the future, but this was my first, so it meant something.

It would fly by, too. I mean, there was so much going on. We had prom and the Valentine's day dance and homecoming and just so many things to make the time fly by.

Then there was the bad side. Starting school in general wasn't ever really exciting for me, but starting back with Bella? Like stated before, I didn't hate her. Honestly, I didn't have anything against her, but we had nothing to talk about, nothing in common, really. So, all we could do was awkwardly try and start conversations that always died after going back and forth maybe, just maybe, three times.

She didn't really feel like my sister, though I was ready to defend her if anyone said anything bad about her. I just didn't get along with her.

I came to pick her up at Charlie's house. He got her a truck, but I was a way for her to get in more undetected than she would be in her old beaten up truck. It was pretty awesome, and I offered to fix it up, but I hadn't gotten the chance yet.

Edward, Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rose all took the Volvo, and I got to take Alice's Dodge. The Audi wasn't really a "drive to school" kind of car.

Bella looked around the car with raised eyebrows. "This yours?"

"Unfortunately, no," I said, letting out a nervous laugh. "Mine's a bit worse than this. Way too ostentatious."

She gave me a timid smile. "Charlie mentioned that they brought you in."

"They did," I agreed, and I found myself genuinely smiling at her. "They're my second family."

She smiled and nodded, though like I figured, the conversation ended there. We didn't have anything else to say, so I just turned the radio up a bit to drown the silence and drove to school.

Honestly, I think she was miserable listening to my music, especially things like One Direction or Karmin, but I didn't really know what she liked. I guess it would be a conversation starter on the way home.

She gave me a nervous smile. "Uh, thanks, Cleo. Could you show me to the office? I have no idea where it is. The map is kinda confusing."

"Of course," I smiled. "Follow me. We can sneak you right in."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "Not sure how people miss you."

I wasn't sure how to take that, but instead of replying, I just awkwardly smiled and began getting my stuff out of the backseat. She did the same, and the two of us walked silently to the office. Along the way, she put in an ear bud in a way that made me feel a little better about it. At least she was trying to look like she wasn't completely bored out of her mind.

If I hadn't forgotten my iPod in my room, I would've done the same.

Miss Cope, the school secretary, smiled warmly at me. "Cleo! Hello, my dear! You're in for a fun day today! Lots of running around for you."

I laughed. "Didn't expect anything less. Uh, Miss Cope? This is my sister, Bella. She's here to pick up her schedule and paperwork."

Bella seemed a bit grateful that she didn't have to say anything, and she gave Miss Cope a tiny smile.

Miss Cope smiled at her as well. "You have quite an amazing sister. She's by far the best aide I've ever had, and such a sweetheart, too!" She handed Bella two pieces of paper. "The top one is your schedule, and the bottom one is the paper all of your teachers will need to sign in each class. You can bring it back after school, or give it to Cleo to give to us tomorrow. Whichever you'd like. It's mostly just verifying that you got your books and found your way around alright."

Bella nodded. "Alright. Thank you."

She smiled at me. "Well, I'll let you get out of here and show her around. Hope you brought your work shoes."

I scrunched my nose and looked down to my feet. In fact, I wasn't wearing what she considered "work" shoes. Honestly, I should've thought about it, but I didn't. Instead, I wore a pair of silver sequin platform stilettos and a fluffy ice blue dress—a dress that made me thankful I had learned to make my wings disappear.

It had been my philosophy for around two years, dress like you're gonna be found dead that day, so I never went out of the house looking like crap.

Bella shifted uncomfortably when she did the same. She seemed to understand now why I was actually taller than her now—she was five foot four whereas I was five foot two—and it probably made her uncomfortable to picture herself in the heels.

Rose taught me how to walk in them well. Despite my disturbing amount of clumsiness, even more than Bella, I had mastered the art of walking in stilettos.

"I think I've got some in the car," I decided, and I gave her a warm smile. "I'll see you after lunch, Miss Cope."

She smiled. "Bye, Cleo. Nice to meet you, Bella."

Bella smiled nervously at her. "It's nice to meet you as well."

When we walked out of the office, Bella took her ear bud out and began looking over her schedule. "Uh . . . this looks pretty basic, I guess."

I glanced at it and began thinking over who I knew with the same schedule. Alice and Edward were the only juniors I knew well enough to know their schedule, so I tried to remember what they had with her.

"You have Biology with one of my friends," I informed her. "That's the only thing I can figure out."

She nodded a bit and quirked her lips to the side. "So, it's all in the main building, right?"

"Except for gym, which is in that building over there," I informed her, pointing at the gymnasium to help clarify where I meant. "Your classes are actually conveniently located. You start at the back of the building and simply work your way up. It's kinda cool."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Huh. Interesting."

* * *

Like I figured, the day started rather strangely. I managed to smuggle Bella in without her being detected, but it was impossible to keep her undetected throughout the day. By Spanish II, which I had the delight of having with Edward, Emmett, and Rose, I was ready to pull all of my hair out after being constantly bothered by questions about her, about what she was like, what she was into, and where she might be. Things of that nature.

Edward gave me a small smirk when my head smacked against the desk. "Your heart's beating right now, Cleez. You probably shouldn't do that."

I flipped him off, something that made him laugh darkly while Emmett snorted on the other side of me. "So let it kill me."

Rose surprised me by punching my arm, something that made me frown as I quickly sat up to glare at her. "There's more where that came from."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay. Anyways, do you happen to have any flats anywhere? I forgot completely about aide, and I was informed I've got lots of walking to do."

She smirked. "I don't, and neither does Alice. It's good practice."

"Practice for what?" Edward snorted. "She walks just fine in them."

When I looked in her eyes, I understood completely why he groaned, and I groaned myself. Her thoughts were deliberate and very loud. _The better she walks in them, the more you'll oogle at her sexy ass._

"That's it," I decided, letting my shoulders slump. "Everyone wants me to disappear. You know how many times I've been asked about my sister today? More than I've been asked about anything, ever. I don't know what she's into, what kind of man she likes. I don't know what her idea of a perfect date is, and I sure as hell don't know her fantasies. I don't have a GPS tracker, so I have no idea where she is. All I know is that her name is Isabella Marie Swan, and she was born on September thirteenth nineteen ninety six. She has brown hair, brown eyes, pale skin. Anything else? Find out your freaking selves."

Edward laughed at me while Rose frowned at him. "Come on, Cleo . . . surely you can tell me what her favorite restaurant is." I flipped him off, once again, but to my delight and dismay all at the same time, he laughed and asked, "Now?"

"You wish," I snorted.

He smirked a little. "All day."

This was our typical banter—jokes about sexual tension that we declared to not actually be there, though it was honestly probably a deterrent from the fact that it really was.

"One day, you'll get your wish," Emmett assured him, but instead of fighting it, I just rolled my eyes and buried my face again.

Despite how annoying they sometimes got, or how easily they got to the most sensitive parts of me and pulled it out in the open while also making it seem like a huge joke, they were the best friends in the world.

* * *

Lunch went by as usual, somewhat. I didn't have to look into anyone's eyes to know what the center of most peoples thoughts was—my little sister.

Annoying as it was, I had grown to ignore it and carried on eating my French fries and laughing as Emmett and Alice had another one of their staring contests. It had started long ago, before I was ever around, and they carried it on to this day.

Emmett blinked first, and if Rose hadn't grabbed his leg, he would've slammed his hands down a bit too hard on the table. She did, though, so he didn't and instead frowned at Alice. "You got lucky. I got something in my eye."

Alice smirked. "I could've told you I would win."

He stuck his tongue out at her. "Not next time, psycho."

That was why I was able to go into aide period with a smile, despite how truly terrifying the thought of walking around the school all throughout the period was.

Miss Cope just laughed when I walked in and sat my stuff down because when I did, I began playfully stretching. "There's a stack of papers I need you to deliver to every room. Then you'll have to come back and get some things to deliver to specific rooms, unless you think you can somehow manage all of that."

I made a face. "As much as I would love to be awesome like that, I'm not quite. I'll be back in a bit."

She laughed on my way out the door, holding the very thick stack of papers. Just like I thought, Miss Cope didn't remember to separate them into stacks, so I would have to disrupt class and awkwardly count how many teachers needed what because another Miss Cope characteristic was her precision. Trust me, she made just enough for each student to have one.

The first room I got to was a room with Jasper, Emmett, and Rose, and of course they were making faces in the back while I tried to count. Some students were glad I kept messing up the count, but I found it embarrassing . . . which was their point, admittedly.

I got out and just a few rooms down was the room Alice was in. She wasn't being mean like Rose, Jasper, and Emmett, but she smiled at me and actually helped me count.

Within ten minutes, I had gotten half of the classes and found myself standing outside of the Biology room. Edward and Bella were both in there, and as much as I loved seeing Edward—I could only imagine what he would say and do while I was in there—I wasn't looking forward to seeing Bella and all the people making a big deal, looking back at her and up to me since I was her sister.

In Forks, everything is a big deal.

I decided to just get it over with, so I firmly knocked on the door. The teacher, Mr. Banner—also my Chemistry teacher—took a few seconds to open it, but when he did, he smiled warmly at me.

"Hello again, Cleo."

I smiled at him. "Hi, Mr. Banner. Sorry. I really hate doing this, but I've gotta give you one for each student. Happen to know how many are in here?"

"No, actually, I haven't counted it out yet," he laughed. "Come on in. Let's see if you can count that high."

What I saw almost stopped me right where I stood, actually knocked the laugh right out of me. Edward wouldn't look at me, wouldn't let his eyes meet mine, because he wasn't willing to let me read his thoughts. There was something he was trying to hide from me, which he only ever did _once _which was the surprise for my birthday. Everyone did that, though, yet he was the only one.

From the look on his face otherwise, I realized that it wasn't something I would like either.

Bella's flushed face, located right beside him, was all I needed.

I couldn't breathe, couldn't really see right, yet I somehow had to force myself to stand there with a smile and count.

_One, two, three . . . uh . . . five? No. Ugh. Start all over, Cleo._

It took me longer than it should have, and of course Mr. Banner teased me about it. I managed, though, and I counted out sixteen pieces of paper and quickly disappeared out the door.

I couldn't even walk, could barely even breathe, so the moment I got out the door and it closed behind me, I took a few minutes and just slid down against the lockers behind me, my eyes staring straight ahead.

What . . . what just happened? Bella was flushed, and Edward was acting weird. So what? Maybe she was just flushed because I was there and people were giving her more attention. Maybe he was just acting weird.

And even if they were acting that way because of each other, why did it matter? Sure, I didn't necessarily get along with Bella, but I knew she wasn't necessarily _bad _for Edward. At least, I don't think she would hurt him.

Holy shit, that bitch was going to break his heart! No!

My eyes were wide while my thoughts jumped around everywhere. What was going on? It didn't really even matter. She was Bella, my little sister. He was Edward, my best friend. He's allowed to date Bella.

_No he isn't. She'll hurt him._

I couldn't process my own thoughts, so I decided to abandon them and continue on with what I was doing. It made it significantly harder, but I managed.

To make matters worse, I had to go back to Mr. Banner's room to deliver two new textbooks he got in.

When I showed back up at his door, he was laughing. "Cleo, what do you want this time?"

I gave him the best smile I could manage. "Well, I was supposed to bring these to you, but since you apparently don't want them . . . ."

He shook his head and pointed to the back of the room. "No. You put those back there this instant."

I tried to laugh, but it was so fake. So unnatural. It actually made me frown when I stepped in the room and began looking to the back shelf.

The shelf behind Edward and Bella.

Edward actually let out the softest groan and laid his head down on the table, which I didn't really get or understand. Bella gave me a timid smile and then began trying to talk to him while I moved back behind them.

"That's my sister," she informed him.

"I know her," he sighed. "She's my best friend."

"So you're the . . . oh my," she said quickly, and her eyes shot wide open.

Despite my curiosity, I put the books down and started heading back out. I didn't ask questions, didn't even really look at either of them, but the brief moment my eyes caught Edward's, I got a glimpse into his brain.

_Please don't let her mis—_

Really? That's all I got?

I gave Mr. Banner a timid smile and left again, but instead of sliding to the ground again, I just walked to the office and waited for the next period to begin.

What was going on? Why did Bella say that? What was Edward even thinking? Were they into each other? Was one into the other with non-mutual feelings? Were they going to get married?!

_Breathe, Cleo. Breathe. They're probably just lab partners . . . ._

Man, I really hoped that's all it stayed at. I mean, you know, because it would be weird for them to date, and if something happened between them, that created tension on _me_ due to the fact I would have to choose. Or maybe not, but it cause me a lot of stress.

Yeah. That must be what it was.


	5. 04: Sometimes, you can't force the issue

**I'm sorry it's taken so long! I actually have up to chapter 10 finished, but I've been busy.**

**Anyways, I'll put chapter 5 up as well to make up for it. (: Thanks Ski and Sarge for reading and reviewing. It means a lot. :D To anyone else reading, I hope you enjoy this. If you do or if you don't, review and lemme know what you think? :3 Pretty please?**

**Enough of that. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I didn't enjoy writing it. Made me sad, really, but the chapters coming up get better. Funnier, in my opinion.**

**Enough rambling. Enjoy. (:**

* * *

"It's there in your eyes when you look away  
These beautiful words are turning into lies  
How can you say that to me?"—_How Can You Say That to Me_, Edwin McCain

"One of the hardest things in life is watch the person you love love someone else."—Unknown

* * *

Things carried on like usual for a while. Edward and I never talked about the classroom. I never asked what he was thinking, and he never asked why I reacted the way that I did. We just moved on and acted normal, though honestly, we really weren't.

Bella and I stayed distant. Charlie had hoped her living here would help us come together and bond as sisters, but we really had nothing to talk about. Not to mention, I didn't want to talk to her, _especially _considering she was only becoming more and more buddy-buddy with Edward with each day that passed.

No. I didn't like it, at all.

One day, I was sitting on the couch playing Black Ops II with Edward while Jasper and Emmett watched. I think I was enjoying killing him too much—the gun game, the only reason I even played Black Ops II—because every time I did, I inwardly did a happy dance while he just laughed and tried to get payback.

Rose came dancing into the room when the match ended and I was victorious. Jasper was laughing madly when Emmett had to pay him a hundred bucks because those two had a strange obsession with betting. Seriously, they bet on everything, and this was no exception.

"Cleez, let's go," she said with absolutely no explanation, just a smile.

My eyebrows rose. "Go? Go where?"

"This is your first senior year," she insisted. "Homecoming is next week, which means we need to go shopping for everything we want to wear. Then, of course, we have to find something to wear for the Valentine's Day dance tomorrow and our girls' night Saturday."

"When did this happen?"

She shrugged. "I just thought of it now. You look like you need it. Boy drama?"

"You wish," I snorted.

"I know."

I rolled my eyes again. "No matter what I say, you'll think otherwise."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Emmett said, looking over at me with raised eyebrows. "Boy drama? You got a guy now?"

"No," I groaned, and I hated the way Edward looked over at me—impassive, uninterested. "Boys are stupid, and they all have cooties. Fine, Rose, I'll go get ready. But seriously? No boy drama."

She seemed to be concentrating on something other than me. Usually, they all got this way when they were trying to keep their thoughts on something besides what they wanted to think about. I didn't ask, but I looked in her eyes to verify.

Yes. She was thinking of what to wear to the dance, whether she should look for red, pink, or purple.

I rolled my eyes and scurried back to my bedroom. I changed quickly into a pair of black skinny jeans, my navy blue Captain America t-shirt, and a pair of studded black sneakers. My hair was left how it was at school today—braided into a normal ponytail—and once I was all set to go, I grabbed my bag and walked back into the living room.

"How do you do that?" Rose whined, something that surprised me. "You go back there and look hot within two minutes."

My eyebrows furrowed. "I just put on some clothes, Rose."

Edward was grinning from the couch. "And that's just too bad. I looked up sexy in the thesaurus, and your name was included."

I narrowed my eyes playfully, even though I wanted to just walk out. "Thanks. Hey! I saw your name next to jerk!"

"Do you work for UPS?" he asked. "Cause I could swear that you were checking out my package."

I rolled my eyes. "The voices in my head are telling me to talk to you."

"Wanna suck my dick?" he immediately responded.

"No thanks," I dismissed, and while I went on, I began getting my black jacket off of the coat rack. "I have enough tic tacs in my purse."

Despite the fact he was laughing, he went on. "If I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put 'your sister' and 'I' together."

Everything immediately changed inside of me, inside of the room. Emmett and Jasper weren't paying attention, but Rose was gawking at him while my body shifted from okay to an absolute train wreck of emotions. Did he really just say that?

My body shook a bit, though I hoped he didn't notice. I could feel tears brimming on the edges of my eyes, but instead of letting them fall, I cleared my throat and looked him dead in the eye. "If I could rearrange the alphabet, I'd put 'fuck' and 'off' together."

While he frowned at my reaction, I just left, giving him more to frown about. I didn't care if anyone followed me. I just wanted to get out of there and into the Dodge, where I immediately began crying as quietly as I could.

What was wrong with me? Why was I doing this? He was my best friend, and he liked my sister. Big deal. Why did it bother me so? It's not like I had feelings for him.

. . . right?

***Rose***

"How the hell could you do that?!" I growled under my breath, something he clearly didn't understand when his eyebrows furrowed. "What is wrong with you?"

"We always do that," Edward defended. "Actually, I'm pretty sure I've used that before. Huh. Guess she wins."

I rolled my eyes. "You're such an idiot. Alice, let's go before I punch him in the face."

Alice frowned at me. "What's so bad about what he said? Maybe he likes Bella."

Everyone froze, completely. No one said a word, no one dared to blink. Honestly, I wasn't even breathing as I looked to her, but I could feel rage burning inside of me.

"What?" Edward finally asked, looking rather confused. "She's pretty cool, but I don't like her. What's going on? Is that what's wrong with Cleo?"

"Of course that's what's wrong with Cleo!" I yelled at him. "She's seen you flirting with her sister since her first day at school, and she hates it! You're her best friend! You think you'd at least _notice_, but apparently not!"

"Rose, calm down!" Edward insisted. "I didn't do anything wrong! I haven't been flirting with Bella. Sure, we have conversations outside of Biology, but that's not flirting. She's interesting. I can't read her mind either."

I took a deep breath and gave him a tight smile. "Well, as I said, I'm gonna leave before I punch you in the face."

Alice sighed. "Right. I get it now."

"I still don't get it," Edward said, eyes tight as they looked to me. "Even if I _did _like Bella, why would that bother Cleo?"

I looked at Emmett, who was actually looking up at Edward like he was an idiot. If _Emmett _understood, that meant Edward should too. Yet he didn't.

No offense to Emmett or anything, but he was never one to catch onto things like that.

Instead of replying, I just turned and walked out the door. Alice followed behind me to her Dart, where we found Cleo sitting in the backseat looking down at her feet. She wasn't saying anything, but from the way she was breathing, I figured she had been out here crying while I was declaring Edward to be the biggest idiot in the world.

Seriously, he was. Biggest. Idiot. Ever.

***Jasper***

I groaned when I could no longer hear the car. "Do you really not get it?"

"I don't get it," Edward snapped. "What's there to get? We've been over this _plenty _of times. We don't have those kinds of feelings for each other."

Emmett snorted. "Dude, if _you _lied, what makes you think Cleo didn't, too?"

I could feel his emotions shift from anger and confusion to confusion with a side of hope. He looked at Emmett like he was crazy, though.

"What makes you think _I _lied?" Edward said back, but his voice was shaky.

Even Emmett could tell he was in denial.

"Every time she comes in the room, you feel so much love in you that it, honestly, is impossible to miss," I informed him, and he frowned. "Before you even say it, yes, I know the differences in family love and relationship love. Besides the fact that relationship love is different, there's typically not lust mixed with family love."

When Emmett started in on his booming laughter, Edward was too shocked to move. Had he not even realized it himself? I mean, with love that strong, how could he _not_? How could _she _not know?

Yet neither did, and that was the most complicated thing about their love. Neither knew the other had feelings, and neither knew even _they _had feelings. I guess out of fear of lost friendship if something went wrong, they repressed any feelings and blew them off as nothing.

We couldn't force this to happen. If they didn't even come to terms with their own feelings on their own, there was no way in hell they would ever come to terms with the other's feelings.

"Let's just drop it," I decided, something that shocked them both. "Clearly I was wrong, right, Edward?"

He was eyeing me skeptically, but I shifted my thoughts to Modern Warfare. I reentered a match so that the subject would, in fact, be dropped.

And it was.


	6. 05: Maybe I should punch you in the face

**Enjoy chapter 5. (: Please review?**

* * *

"Hair, lips, just like a gun.  
She's got silver bullets on her tongue.  
He's deep under her spell.  
I'm screamin' out, but it just won't help.

I think I'm cursed,  
I had him first."—_Put the Gun Down_, ZZ Ward

"The roads of life are strewn with the wreckage of run-down, half-finished loves."—Unknown

* * *

It was the most surprising event of the day. Neither Alice nor Rose talked about Edward, which wasn't normal for them. Usually, they talked about him all the time. Even out of nowhere, they'd somehow avert the topic to their brother, their hopeful flame for me.

Not today. Today, we were girls. We talked about girly things. Rose talked about this cute guy in Chemistry class who was ogling her all throughout the period, despite Emmett being right in front of her. Emmett noticed, but since he's not really the jealous type, he didn't really care.

She complained about that. She said that for once, even just once, she wanted Emmett to tell people to back off, to tell people that he has a claim on her and that she was _his_.

We'll have to see if that pans out.

Despite their attempts to put my mind elsewhere, I couldn't really _stop _thinking about Edward, stop thinking about how mad I was that he liked Bella. Why did I really care? The question plagued my mind, and I hated thinking about it. We were friends. That boundary had been established from the beginning, and we had never dared to dance around it before. Yet here we were, weren't we? I was getting jealous, the only emotion I could get to make sense with my reactions, and he was just going on. So, he wasn't dancing on the line. I was.

I needed to back off before I tripped over it.

We got everything we needed for homecoming, for the girls' night, and for the Valentine's dance. With homecoming, it was five separate dresses, all of which went accordingly with the homecoming days. Monday was the usual Wacky Tacky Day, but they mixed it up a bit with Tuesday. Tuesday was labeled Favorite Color Day, which was explained to be a day where you wore as much of your favorite color as you could. So, we were going to be covered from head to toe in our favorite colors. Of course, Alice's was pink, Rose's was red, and mine was mint green.

Wednesday was The After Halloween Party, which was just a fancy way of saying Costume Day. Nevertheless, we came up with a clever idea. We were going to dress up as Katy Perry songs, so I was dressed up like a tiger from her song _Roar_. Rose was dressed up like her from _California Girls_—sort of. She had to wear more than Katy did, so she dressed up in a Candyland-like manner. Alice dressed up like a peacock from, obviously, her song, _Peacock_.

Then there was Thursday, Season Spirit. You could really take that however you wanted. Some people I heard talking were taking it like baseball season, football season, and things of that nature. Others were taking it as TV episodes, so they were dressing up like characters from their favorite TV show. Alice, Rose, and I, however, were dressing according to our favorite season. Is it a surprise that Alice's was spring? No? Well, even less surprising, Rose's favorite season was summer. Mine was winter, so we got dresses accordingly.

Friday was the simplest day of all—Navy Blue and Gold Day. That never changed, and it never would. It was the school colors, and the basketball homecoming game was that night. There was a homecoming dance after, which we also got dresses for, but we all got outfits to go with Friday's theme. Every day of that week, I would be wearing a dress, so that weekend, I wasn't wearing a dress for anything. Period.

While shopping, Charlie called and asked me to come to dinner that night. We were, thankfully, wrapping up, so I was able to get there on time. Rose and Alice just dropped me off so they could take the stuff back home, and despite my reluctance to see Bella, I was relieved I was able to stall seeing Edward.

I was gonna have to lie to him, and I hated doing that. I wasn't very good at it, at least to him.

Charlie greeted me with a warm hug. "Hey there, kiddo! Glad you could make it."

I smiled at him and nodded, stepping inside so I could look at the house guests. "Of course, Dad."

Bella was biting her lip nervously while she stood beside a guy I knew well. He came over all the time, or we went over to his place, considering that Charlie and Billy were best friends.

Jake grinned at me. "Long time no see, Cleo."

I let out a blissful laugh and ran over to jump him in a hug. "Jake! How have you been?"

"I've been good," he said with a smile. "Just, you know, enjoying life. What about you?"

"I could say the same," I agreed.

Jake and I started out rocky, our friendship anyways. He had Quileute werewolf blood in him, and as far as they knew, hunters didn't exist. All they knew were vampires and werewolves. Carlisle never told them the truth of their nature, only promised that they would never harm a human being. So, the treaty between the La Push werewolves and the Cullen family was established. The Cullens couldn't cross over into La Push for any reason, and they could never harm a human being. It had been established after Emmett, the final Cullen family member to be changed, was changed, but it was established decades ago.

When Billy and Jake came over after I got back from Phoenix, Billy was the first to sense something different about me, though Jake's blood and nature quickly followed so that he realized the same thing. They didn't take long to figure out that I was like the Cullens, but what struck them as odd was when they heard my heart beating, felt me shift from a "vampire" to a normal human being.

They confronted me about it when Charlie went to use the bathroom. I told them that I didn't know what I could say, and Jake was fine with that answer. Billy, however, didn't like it, and he went to talk to Sam about it.

Sam showed up at the Cullens house the next day and asked Carlisle to tell him the truth of them, so Carlisle did.

We had the same agenda as the wolves, though ours was slightly less biased. They assumed all vampires were evil, and maybe they were. Some, however, had heart, and they only did what they had to in order to survive, such as the Denali coven in Alaska or Jasper.

So the treaty was lifted, but Sam asked Carlisle to only change someone if they were already dying. When asked about the changing process, Carlisle told him the truth. If a person doesn't have what it takes to be a hunter, if they failed as a vampire hunter, the hunter venom didn't work. Most of the time, it killed them, but Carlisle distinctly remembers a couple of times it turning humans straight to vampires, none of which ever turned out well.

That made things easier on the Charlie-Billy front because I was allowed to go into La Push, though I wasn't sure if I was considered a Cullen or not. Sure, we had already decided that I was coming with them when they left, but I didn't know what that meant necessarily. Was I considered a Cullen?

_I would be if I—_

I shoved that thought out immediately and instead looked right into Bella's eyes, trying to be friendly even with all things considered. What I heard, though, made me wish I never had the notion that it would be a good idea.

_Hope she doesn't find out that I like Edward._

That was a slap to the face, something that almost knocked the breath out of me. My own sister didn't care if she hurt me. She did what she wanted and got who she wanted, and she wasn't going to let my feelings, my wishes, affect her.

Once again, I found myself standing at the line of friendship, but this time, I wasn't trying to cross over it. This time, I was standing in the way of _her _crossing over it.

Whatever it took, she would _not _be with Edward. She was completely wrong for him, and I wasn't gonna see him get hurt. If she would do this to her own sister, what would she do to _him_?

Guess I would never find out. No one would.

I forced a smile at her. "So, Bella, what's for dinner?"

She smiled, completely unaware of my evil thoughts of doom for her. "Well, this friend of mine at school told me about their favorite food, and I had never tried it. So, I decided to try it tonight. Have you ever heard of anyone putting turkey on their pizza?"

_Oh HELL no._

To my surprise, Charlie began to laugh. "Actually, that's what Cleo does. Didn't realize anyone outside of the Cullens and the two of us did, though. That's interesting."

_No, it's not interesting. It's evil._

I actually let out a nervous laugh. "Uh, yeah. Definitely interesting."

_I hope you choke on it, Bella._

* * *

Bella went up to her room to work on homework while Jake and I went outside to get some air. I wasn't sure what Billy and Charlie were doing, but I was almost certain it involved some kind of sports game—basketball, I think.

Jake and I were mostly just sitting on the cab of Billy's truck while he practically drooled over the Audi he had seen plenty of times.

"You ever liked someone you don't think you have a chance to be with?" he asked out of nowhere, eyes moving over to meet mine so that I could understand just what he meant.

And I did. He was crushing on Bella, too, it seemed, and I felt a bit strange. Two guys, one girl. I was the one left out in the cold, the one no one wanted.

I had never felt so miserable, yet I had to smile for my friend. "What makes you think you don't have a chance with her?"

"She really likes this guy in her science class," he admitted. "And, I mean, she's older than me."

"Only by a year," I laughed. "Come on, Jake. A year isn't a big deal."

He grinned. "Nothing like the decades between you and the guy you love, right?"

To his surprise, instead of rolling my eyes, I let out a deep sigh. "I . . . well, I mean, it's complicated."

"But you're past the denial, which is the first step to being with someone," he noted, and my eyebrows furrowed. "Oh, come on, Cleez. It can't be that hard to grasp, can it? You love him."

"He's like a brother to me," I tried to protest, but at this point, I don't think I could've fooled a complete stranger.

He rolled his eyes. "Uh huh. _I'm _like a brother to you. Emmett and Jasper are like brothers to you. Do we constantly tell each other how attractive we think the other one is? No. We don't."

"You've told me I'm beautiful before," I mumbled.

"Maybe so, because you are, but with you two, it's like every single day," he reminded me. "You're constantly telling each other, every chance you get it seems. Honestly, it kinda seems like you're in the phase between friendship and a relationship anyways. Why not just get to the next phase?"

"Because he likes Bella," I blurted out, before I could even think about it.

Jake's eyebrows furrowed, only for a second, before slight horror crossed his face. "Cleo, that doesn't mean—"

"I get it, Jake," I disagreed. "I really do. You like Bella, and I'm totally okay with that. Right now, it's hard for me to see, but maybe you two would be great together. It's just . . . I can't stand the thought of them together because what if something goes wrong? I'm stuck in the middle, having to choose sides or live with the awkwardness between both of them. I can't take that."

"Come on, Cleo, stop it," he groaned. "Here I thought we were making such good progress."

"What do you want me to say?" I snapped. "That I'm in love with him? What good will that do anyone?"

"It'll do you a world of good," he said, and I truly think he meant it. "Come on, Cleo. You never lose by loving. You lose by holding back."

And just like that, I began to cry all over again, this time in front of someone. I cried because deep down, I wanted nothing more than Edward to hold me, to kiss me, to be the one I spent my forever with. If I even had forever, that's who I wanted to be there with me. Somehow, we seemed like we would work, and the thought of him having someone else, bonding himself in such a way that stuck him to one person, made me tear up just _thinking_ about it. I never did for that very reason.

Very quickly, though, I stood from the back of the truck and began fumbling around for my keys. "I should go."

"Stop running away from reality!" he insisted. "The longer you run, the harder your life will be to face when he stops waiting. No one can wait forever."

"Good!" I exclaimed, surprising myself with the sudden intensity of my voice. "I don't want him to wait! He shouldn't wait, in fact. There's nothing to wait for!"

"You can't look me in the eyes and tell me that," he disagreed. "One day, you'll regret this with every fiber of your being."

"I won't ever regret doing the best thing in the world for him," I whispered, and his eyes widened in horror. "Come on, Jake. I'm pretty messed up. I'm this mutant freak person who is _sometimes _a human and _sometimes _a hunter. He deserves better."

"You can't get better than the best," he protested. "Maybe you're a little messed up, and you're definitely beyond crazy, but maybe he wants adventure. He's the kind of person who _wants _crazy, and I'll be damned if I let your insecurities ruin this. The hardest thing to do is watch the person you love be with someone else. Why would you stand back and let that happen?"

"Maybe I'm just too fucking complicated for anyone to love," I mumbled.

He looked mortified. "Cleo . . . don't ever say that."

"Why not?" I scoffed. "It's probably true. Look, Jake, I've gotta get home. I need to go try and get a clear head so I can figure shit out."

He sighed, though his head was shaking. "Cleo, you should never think no one will ever love you because someone already does."

"Yeah, okay," I sighed, and I began walking to my car. "Tell Charlie I'll be back tomorrow. I just remembered a homework assignment I forgot or something and had to hurry home."

"Will do," he assured me. "And Cleez?"

I stopped when I reached the car, but I didn't turn to face him due to the fact I now had tears rolling down my face. What was wrong with me? This wasn't anywhere _near _as bad as my life had been before, yet I was crying more now than I ever had before. I was crying over love, over something I could just move past and be happy around.

That's why I repressed it for so long . . . .

"Yeah?"

"It'll all work itself out soon."

Despite how much it hurt me to think about, I didn't know if it would. Jake was being nice to me, though. He was being a good friend and trying to help me, so instead of saying what I wanted to, I said something that might make him feel a bit better about our conversation.

"Maybe you're right."


	7. 06: Can things get any messier?

**Thanks, Ski, for your continued support. (: I hope you continue enjoying it. **

**To anyone else who might be reading who isn't reviewing, please take a few seconds to do so? :3 It really helps because you can tell me what you like/don't like, and I can improve from it. So, if you have the time, please? (:**

**Anyways, let the story carry on! :D**

* * *

I'm going down  
'Cause you ain't around, baby.  
My whole world's turning upside down  
Sleep don't come easy."—Rose Royce, _I'm Going Down_

"The world that we all knew before, could wake up in feeling safe . . . now it seems that everything has been turned upside down."—Tori Amos

* * *

I walked through the front door quickly, trying to get out of the cold February air. It was raining, too, which was normally awesome. It wasn't today because of the fact that it was freezing cold.

What I saw shocked me so much that my stuff fell right out of my hands and onto the floor.

There was a random strawberry blonde haired vampire standing in the living room wearing nothing but a tiny bathrobe—_Alice's _bathrobe, which she was much too tall for. She had her hair thrown up in a messy bun, and she was staring at me like _I _was the one out of place here.

"Who are you?" she snorted.

"Um, I could ask you the same thing," I said, carefully choosing my words so she didn't try and kill me or anything. "I live here."

She let out a sigh. "Oh. You're the bitch they feel sorry for. Right. Claire, is it?"

Tears immediately came to my eyes, though I forced them back and furrowed my eyebrows. "Cleo. You must be Tanya. Fuck off and get out of my house."

She smirked. "I was invited here, and from the way I see it, it's not really your house. You're just allowed to stay here."

Very slowly, I began taking a deep breath so that I _didn't _kill her. Everything inside of me was already screaming for me to, since I was, you know, a vampire hunter, but instead, I gave her a forced smile. "Right. I forgot they just feel sorry for me. Well, why are you here, dressed like that? I'm sure we can find you something more comfortable."

"Just waiting on Edward," she disagreed, and from the way my body stiffened, she began to giggle. "Sorry. I forget you're hopelessly in love with him. Look, Cleo, he's not interested. I think he had a thing for a girl named . . . oh gosh, what was her name? Bella? Belle? I don't remember. Either way, he's over that and moved on to me, so if I were you, I'd get out while I still could."

Everything inside of me died in that moment, and I began fading away. How did she know about Bella if it wasn't real? If there weren't feelings between them?

What was the point in being here if everyone I had grown to love and depend on never loved me? What if they just felt pity for me as she said? I mean, that had to come from somewhere, right?

That was when I decided to leave. If I was just a pity project of theirs, I wasn't sticking around to be their project anymore. If that meant I was gonna die because I was in a weird transition between human and hunter, so be it. I wasn't sticking around.

Before I moved, though, I looked into her golden eyes. I didn't want to, but I knew I had to. If she was here to be Edward's lover . . . his one mate . . . I had to know the truth.

_Hope she doesn't see past this. God, I hate her! He's _mine_!_

I began to laugh, despite all the pain inside of me, and her eyebrows pulled together. "Well, while you're being trashy and throwing yourself at him this way, which he will, by the way, _hate_, I'm gonna sit right here on the couch and laugh as your plan backfires and blows up in your face."

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not being trashy. He asked me to wait for him. I'm surprising him."

"We'll see about that."

Almost as soon as I sat down on the couch, Edward stumbled in through the door, muttering to himself about how cold it was. He must've heard Tanya's thoughts and heard my heartbeat because he wasn't surprised to see either of us.

I smiled and waved at him, and when he looked at her, his eyes were wide with a slight bit of horror. "Tanya was just here waiting for you, like you asked."

"Uh, what the hell are you doing?" Edward asked. "Did you spill something on yourself or something?"

Tanya began pouting. "You said it would probably just be you and me. I thought I could surprise you."

"You and me meaning my siblings might not be here, not meaning anything was going to happen!" he exclaimed. "I'm sorry if you got the wrong idea, but I told you over a decade ago that I wasn't interested, Tanya. You're just not my type."

And of course, I began laughing from the couch, which she very angrily gasped about. Instead of stopping, though, I fell back and laughed even harder. She just stormed out of the house, literally, still in just Alice's robe.

His eyebrows were furrowed when he looked back to me. "What was that all about?"

I was still laughing as I sat up and shrugged. "I don't really know. She said you would like it."

He sighed. "I don't know why she obsesses over me."

"If I'm remembering correctly, she only dates attractive people," I pointed out, something that, despite everything, made him smile. "And you definitely take the most attractive cake, hands down."

He laughed a little and shrugged. "Eh. My cake goes to you, but I'll take your cake."

I grinned. "That sounds sexual."

Playfully, his eyebrows rose. "Sex? What? Okay. Let's go."

It was supposed to make me laugh, or roll my eyes, or play along . . . but it did none of the above. Instead, it made me upset, and my thoughts took over my mind again.

He was silent until he saw the single tear slide down my cheek. "Cleo, will you tell me everything that's wrong with you?"

"She was . . . awful," I whispered. "She said things that . . . I don't know. Really got under my skin. Maybe it's because I see myself as such a problem for you guys, because I don't understand why you'd find any interest in me."

"That would probably be because you're a spectacular person with the most fascinating personality of anyone I know," he responded immediately, and to my delight, he came over to sit beside me. Like usual, I was moved over to where my head was on his shoulder, and his arm was around me. "You have never and will never be a problem for us, Cleo. Not ever."

I still wasn't convinced, though Edward had never lied to me, as far as I knew. Well, about things like this. There was the lies concerning my birthday party or my birthday present, but that was all different.

Rose and Emmett came in next, and when Rose cocked an eyebrow at me, I just took a deep breath and stood up, letting myself catch my balance before I even tried to take a step.

"It's been a long day," I mumbled. "I'm gonna go to bed."

"Can we talk first, Cleo?" Edward asked, and when I turned back, I saw hope in his eyes. I saw fear, pain, and something I couldn't quite decipher.

I bit my lip nervously. Talk? The two of us? That could lead to bad places I wasn't ready to explore yet. I had just come to term with the fact that maybe I did love him as more than my best friend, and what if he noticed? What if he wanted to talk about that? I wasn't ready to do it, and I didn't think I could handle whatever it was he had to say.

I let out a sigh. "I guess."

"No, no," he decided, something that actually surprised me. He gave me a tiny smile of reassurance, however, and stood up. "It can wait until tomorrow. You look exhausted. Go ahead and get some sleep."

Despite the looks Rose and Emmett were giving me, I gave him a tight hug and did just that. The hug was short, but in the midst of it, I realized why I always preferred hugging Edward. How many times had I thought about it, sat around and just thought about the way his hugs made me feel? Too many to count, honestly. There was always something in his hugs that surprised me, that made my body tingle from head to toe.

I was safe in his arms, safe in the arms of the man who had become my entire world. The reason I found myself wanting to hug him more than anyone else was because he was my world, and for the brief moments he was in my arms, I actually had my world in my arms. I actually had my security, my protection, so close to me I could smell his cologne.

And that's why I don't think even I understood why I pulled myself abruptly out of the hug and ran back to my room without even looking back.

What have I let myself get into?

* * *

I couldn't sleep, which was no surprise. My mind was racing from thought to thought. It varied from Tanya to Bella to Edward to keeping Bella away from Edward to Edward to Jake to Edward and Edward and love and Edward . . . it was just hopeless.

I began to realize that maybe I couldn't even possibly love Edward. I didn't understand what love was. Love . . . what is love? Is it pushing your feelings to the back of your mind so you don't have to bore or worry someone with your problems? Is it pretending that what they said hurt, even though it felt like they viciously ripped out your heart and soul and sliced them to bits? Maybe it's putting everything on hold just so you can be there for that one person. Or is it what the old saying said? When their happiness is your happiness, you are in love.

Whatever it was, what was the point in it? People say they feel happiness, all the time, and they feel like they can do anything. Yet I felt so crappy, so uncertain. Maybe I saw past the sick and twisted illusion of love. The happiness turns to sadness with a side of broken heart, and instead of feeling like you can do anything, you never want to do anything. Instead of being alive and happy, you're empty, lifeless.

So wouldn't that make love useless and dangerous? Evil, even?

_No, Cleo. Just look at Emmett and Rose. Jasper and Alice. Or, even better, Carlisle and Esme_.

Those two were epitome of a long lasting relationship. With each day that passed, I saw more love in their eyes than the day before. They loved everyone, everything, so strongly that their love for each other met head on and blossomed into this beautiful creation of the most perfect love imaginable. And I had always been a little jealous of that. _I _wanted that, a love like Carlisle and Esme's.

Instead, I got a deep and burning love for someone who would never love me back, someone who very well might only have me here out of pity.

And that only stirred up more things inside of me. So, I got up from my bed and began packing. I didn't really know where I was going, where I could go, but I knew I had to get somewhere. If I was just a pity project, I wasn't gonna be anymore.

To my surprise, Rose came in here and saw me packing. She was half asleep, looking quite pissed she was up so early. "What are you doing, Cleo?"

It was hard to look her in the eyes as I said it, but I did. I had to know what went through her mind when I surprised her with this. "I'm leaving."

She was immediately so scared and surprised that all of the sleep drained out of her and her mind went on a frenzy. "What?! Don't tell me this is because of my stupid brother. God, Cleo, just accept your feelings and deal with them! Don't just leave."

My eyebrows pulled together. "It has nothing to do with him. I can't . . . do you guys see me as someone to feel sorry for? Someone you feel obligated to help out and keep around?"

"What the hell?" she asked, and to my dismay, Emmett, Edward, and Jasper all came in here in nothing but boxers. Alice was quick to follow, but Rose didn't acknowledge them. "Where is this even coming from?"

"I don't know!" I exclaimed, and something that scared them all even more was when I just exploded, right there. Every emotion rushing around inside of me, all the things that hurt me and made my mind so confused, detonated, and I fell on the ground holding my stomach crying my eyes out. "I can't . . . I can't take this."

There were five people who meant the world to me watching me, but only one came to hug me. He had been a topic of thought a lot throughout the day, and he was the one I desperately wanted out of my head. Yet he was the one I needed to hold me, the one whose embrace could calm me enough I could possibly breathe.

His grip on me was so tight I felt the air rush out of my lungs, felt my heartbeat pounding against my ribcage. How could he not hear that? Not feel it? No one else made my heart soar the way he did, yet he never even knew. He was just completely and utterly oblivious.

I tried to stop crying, but that only made me sob harder. It was one of those awkward moments where I sounded like a retarded seal trying to cry and breathe at the same time. More than likely, I looked as bad as I felt—like complete and utter shit.

Why was it all happening at once? My sister was purposely stabbing me in the back on a subject that was beyond touchy for me. My best friend, the man who had also become the love of my life, was crushing on her. He possibly didn't even really like me . . . . Then there was the realization that I had put too much into them, depended too much on them. What if Tanya was right? I was just a charity case? I couldn't live like that, couldn't live knowing that, and I had already planned the rest of my _eternity_ around being with them. How could I do that, especially if I had to watch Edward love my sister each and every day while I loved him each and every day?

I just couldn't do it, couldn't handle it.

Carlisle warned me that hunters felt things stronger than humans, but I never realized the repressed feelings, the things I tried to deny to even myself, would come back and erupt inside of me like Mount Saint Helens all over again.

There were no more tears left in my body, so I was just trembling in his arms, wishing with everything in me that I could just disappear. I had to look up and face them, and I didn't want to.

When I looked up, I was surprised to find Rose squatted down beside Edward with a warm smile on her face. He was smiling down at me, too, and Emmett was making a goofy face behind her while Jasper and Alice just observed the scene.

"Cleo . . . I don't know what Tanya said to you, but she was just making stuff up," Edward informed me. "You mean the world, to all of us. You're not just some girl who Rose and Alice rescued when discovering a group of vampires out in the woods. You're the girl who took us all by surprise and became a part of the family. You're beyond strange, and there are so many things I could list that are wrong with you, but you're perfect. The perfect fit."

I hated this. I loved this. It was a wild tornado of emotions swirling around inside my heart that found more tears hidden somewhere deep within me, that made me smile while crying.

"I wish that were true."

"It is true," Jasper informed me, smirking when my eyebrows rose. "In every sense that you mean it. You'll see."

Despite everything, I rolled my eyes at him and actually smiled sheepishly. "We'll see about that."

And that was the crazy reality of my life.


End file.
